Dr Who #8: Planet of Giants

A TARDIS malfunction leaves the ship and crew back on Earth but shrunk to miniature size. The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara are thrust into a conspiracy involving a murder, a shady businessman and a deadly pesticide that could threaten all life on the planet. (The "genius" inventor of this only seemed to realise once it was ready for production)

Like The Edge of Destruction, this starts off with a suitably gripping "what the hell" moment as the TARDIS doors open before the ship has landed. What follows is a pacey murder mystery fused with elements of Gulliver's Travels and fears of a looming eco-disaster. 

Considering the non-existent budget, the production design is excellent, especially the models of the giant laboratory, the ant eggs, and the fly that attacks Barbara.

The reason for the shrinking of the TARDIS is explained away with some technobabble and is not really the focus of the plot. 

As Barbara becomes infected by the DN6 pesticide, the race is on to get her back to the safety of the TARDIS. The ending does feel rushed. Initially a four-part serial, the last two episodes were edited together into one. While this does bring the pace up, for one thing, it is never properly explained how Barbara gets better.

Interestingly, this is one of the only times that the main cast have no direct interaction with the supporting characters. 

The First Rebel (1939) (aka Allegheny Uprising)

A time waster I only watched for the cast; it is an interesting look at how not to make a John Wayne film.

Wayne plays the real-life frontiersman James Smith. He clashes with a group of underhanded traders who start selling arms to the Natives in 18th century colonial America.

The star has bags of charisma, but the script has far too much clunky expositional dialogue, and he works better with less to say. The John Wayne character is already coming into shape. A loner, a leader, brave, intelligent, always does the right thing. No ambiguities. Does not answer to anyone

The two main co-stars are suitably slimy. George Sanders is an incompetent martinet colonial soldier, while Brian Donlevy is the businessman so unscrupulous, he will even trade with the British AND the Indians. When I say Indians, I mean white guys in Mohican wigs. Smith and his posse black up for a revenge attack on the Indians, but this is historically accurate.

The supporting characters are forgettable. Claire Trevor as Janie MacDougall is the never-going-to-happen love interest of Smith, and the best thing about Wilfrid Lawson as "Mac" MacDougall is his "och aye" Scottish accent.

Competently but unimaginatively filmed, The First Rebel suffers from a lack of action, and peeters out into a stiff courtroom drama.

Interestingly, it was banned at first in the UK by the Ministry of Information for portraying the British in a bad light.